It's June, AKA Pride month, that time of year when companies often drop new advertisements to show their support for the LGBT community.
And on Monday, Equinox Fitness released a short film titled “LGBTQAlphabet: Six Letters Will Never Be Enough.” In a clip of the video posted on Twitter, dancers are shown representing the definitions that make up the acronym LGBTQA.
Six letters will never be enough to spell out your truth. In conjunction with @LGBTCenterNYC, we are all… https://t.co/Y9DvkmLWXH
The full five minute video was created in partnership with the LGBT Community Center of NYC.
According to the video, "A" stands for ally.
However, people on Twitter were quick to point out that this is not the case. The "A" is commonly recognized to stand for agender, asexual, or aromantic.
@Equinox @LGBTCenterNYC why did you represent Allies instead of #Asexuals? It's hard to be #PoweredByPride when your orientation is ignored.
"It is so frustrating to continue to see asexuality erased from the LGBTQIA+ community," one user responded.
@Equinox @LGBTCenterNYC A is for Asexual. It is so frustrating to continue to see asexuality erased from the LGBTQIA+ community.
Another pointed out that the erasure of an entire community can be harmful.
@Equinox @LGBTCenterNYC The A stands for aromantic, asexual, and agender. Not ally. This is harmful erasure.
In the 5 minute short film every letter in the alphabet is given a definition as 26 different voices explain what each identity means to them.
View this video on YouTube
Here is the full list of the alphabet definitions described in the video:
A – Ally
B – Bisexual
C – Coming out
D – Drag
E – Exhibitionist
F – Femme
G – Gay
H – Heteroflexibile
I – Intersex
J – Justified
K – Kink
L – Lesbian
M – Masc
N – Non-binary
O – Out
P – Pansexual
Q – Queer
R – Real
S – S & M
T – Trans
U – Undecided
V – Vogue
W – Womxn
X – Xtravagant
Y – You
Z – Ze | Zir
Asexuality was not mentioned once in the film.
While the video does include parts of the LGBT community that often get overlooked, such as those who identify as pansexual, overlooking the asexual community — a identity that is often discredited or erased completely — has many people jumping to correct the error.
"Six letters will never be enough" -@Equinox. Well apparently 26 isn't enough either because you still can't include asexuals. ♠️🚫🌈
In a statement provided to BuzzFeed, Equinox's Executive Creative Director Liz Nolan made it clear the ad is not intended to be a "closed narrative" and hopes the film empowers people in the LGBT community "to be proud and unapologetic about who they are."
With "The LGBTQAlphabet,” our goal was to spark a conversation and shed light on the many diverse, evolving identities of the community. This is not a closed narrative. Rather, it’s intended to inspire conversation and new ways of thinking. At Equinox, we want to empower everyone in the community to be proud and unapologetic about who they are and how they identify, and that goes well beyond six or even 26 letters. We've learned a lot from the social dialogue inspired by this work, and we want to thank those of you who spoke out to educate us and others.